The present invention relates generally to personal cooling garments and associated cooling systems and methods for protection of personnel working in hot contaminated environments, and more particularly to a system for providing intermittent cooling to personnel wearing protective garments and working in a hot contaminated (chemical, biological, radioactive) environment.
Background information related to personal cooling systems and methods for personnel wearing protective garments and working in hot contaminated environments is presented in copending application Ser. No. 07/907,279 entitled "Open Loop Cooling Apparatus", the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Prior art cooling units generally suffer a disadvantage that a substantial weight represented by a portion of the cooling system (e.g., a backpack) may need to be carried by the personnel during the work, the units may need to be situated near the work area and the freedom of movement by the personnel during work may therefore be limited, and the cooling capacity may be limited.
The invention described herein solves or substantially reduces in critical importance problems with prior art systems as just suggested by providing an effective and inexpensive system for supplying intermittent clean cool and dry air at sufficient pressure and flow rate to provide relief from heat stress to subjects wearing protective garments and working in hot contaminated environments. The system may find use in chemical, nuclear or biological applications, nuclear power plants, chemical waste treatment and hazardous/toxic areas.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide an effective and inexpensive system for supplying cool and dry air to personnel wearing protective garments while working in a hot contaminated environment.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system for supplying intermittant clean cool and dry air to personnel working in a hot contaminated environment.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent as a detailed description of representative embodiments proceeds.